


Sketching Our Stories

by djsadbean



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 05:16:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15767358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/djsadbean/pseuds/djsadbean
Summary: Keith's a sophomore in a very upper-class private school for gifted students. His scholarship allows him to come to the school but he's already pushed so many buttons. One more fight and he loses the scholarship and he's forced to go to an inner city school. The one thing that keeps him sane in a school full of spoiled teens is art, that is until a certain transfer student decides to make it really hard for Keith not to punch him in the face.(Art Club AU! Keith and Lotor do eventually become friends no worries ^^ Each character has their own struggles and they'll all be addressed but the focus is Keith.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! djsadbean here with another fic :D I wanted a happy story but with some angst thrown in there haha so here's the art club au! I'll be posting art about it on my social media bc this au is just too wholesome not to draw :D I've got so much planned for this you have no idea XD Hope you enjoy! (and yes this is a ship free fic but this isn't a friendship free fic :D lots of relationships will be explored) 
> 
> (Also I don't have a beta reader just bc I like to post the chapters after reviewing them twice on my own time so I don't have to wait on anyone. I know this is probably not the best plan for a piece of writing lol but this is just a hobby so I'm okay with this. This is just a btw in case you find mistakes)
> 
> social media stuff:  
> https://www.instagram.com/djsadbean/  
> https://twitter.com/djsadbean  
> https://djsadbean.tumblr.com/  
> https://ko-fi.com/djsadbean
> 
> (Credit to @rox6564 on instagram for the title of the fic! I was just gonna call it art club au haha)

## Chapter 1

The sun shined warmly through the beige curtains of the small room. The boy stirred in his bed as he heard the door of his room open.

“Breakfast is ready, Keith! These pancakes aren’t gonna eat themselves.” His dad, chuckled. “Besides, it’s the first day of school!”

Keith groaned into his pillow. “Are you sure we can’t just let me fend for myself in the woods…? It’d be better than waking up this early everyday just to go to school.” He mumbled.

His dad laughed again. “I’m positive, ya silly goose.”

He huffed and sat up. “I’ll be ready in a few.”

A few minutes later Keith trudged from his bedroom and into the kitchen, which was only a few steps away in their small house. He plopped down on his chair and looked at his stack of pancakes and bacon with eggs. The pancakes were so fluffy and warm, Keith’s mood was instantly lifted.

“Man, these look so good.” He said, more to himself.

His dad smiled. “I’m glad ‘cause I worked all morning on those. Can’t have my boy starting his first day of school on a poptart.”

Keith chuckled a bit. He poured a generous amount of syrup on the top and put slices of butter between each pancake.

“With the way you eat I’m surprised you manage to stay so small.” His dad laughed a bit as he sipped his coffee.

“It’ll probably catch up with me one of these years. That’s a problem for college Keith.” He said, shoving a slice of the buttered pancake into his mouth.

“Well, high school Keith is gonna need to finish those up before the bus gets here.” He looked at Keith again before turning to get his keys. “You’re gonna have to get back to waking up early and making breakfast when I go back to work next week.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know the drill.” He said, mouth still full.

“I gotta go run some errands but I’ll be back a little after you come home.” He slid his coat on and made his way to Keith. “Have a great day at school!” He kissed his head, “Love ya, Keith!” He waved goodbye as he closed the front door after himself.

Keith looked back at his pancakes and tried to finish them quickly while still savoring every sweet and buttery slice. After putting his dish in the sink and loading it into the dishwasher he grabbed his bag from his room and made sure everything was in there. “Phone, pencil bag, sketchbook… Oh right!” He reached for his class schedule and put it in his bag with everything else.

He swung the bag over his shoulder and grabbed his lanyard with his key on it. After all the lights were off he walked out and locked the door after himself. He walked for a few minutes before reaching the bus stop.

“Hey Keith!” Another boy waved from where he stood and walked towards Keith. “Haven’t seen you since that sleepover at Hunk’s. Whatcha been up to? More emo art stuff I assume.” He joked as he rested his arm on Keith’s shoulder, which wasn’t hard since he wasn’t exactly tall.

“Yep. More emo stuff, Lance.” He rolled his eyes playfully. “Also I finished that game you let me borrow if you want me to bring it back to you soon.”

“Woah already?? It took me like 2 months of playing everyday to finish it! How’d it take you only like, what, 2 or 3 weeks??” Lance’s eyes widened.

Keith laughed. “It’s a game where you have to fly planes and shoot at bad guys. Of course I’d finish fast.” He smirked.

Lance pouted a bit. “Well next time you come over you can show me how you did it.”

“Alright then.” Keith watched as the bus pulled up.

“I call window seat!” Lance rushed to the door as it opened.

 

They arrived at their school almost an hour later. “I wish the Garrison was closer.” Lance mumbled.

“Rich people… They don’t want their precious privileged school near our neighborhoods.” He huffed and stood up when the bus stopped in front of the school. “Whatever… at least we’ve got our scholarships, right?”

Lance nodded, standing up and walking behind him. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

After they walked off the bus they were met with the biggest hug they’ve received in a while.

“Hey you guys!! We’re sophomores now! How do you feel??” He said, almost squeezing the life out of them.

“ _Hunk- You’re gonna kill us-_ ” Lance managed to get out.

“Oh whoops!” Hunk sheepishly backed up a bit. “I’m sorry, I’m just so excited to see you guys! Allura and Pidge are already in class. So glad we all get to see each other in first period. Good chance to exchange homework answers in the morning.” He smiled. They only knew about first period because they got distracted after exchanging what class they had first back at Hunk’s sleepover.

The three of them walked into the school and into their first class: Algebra. Keith sat himself in the back of the class. No way he was listening to whatever the teacher was gonna say. This is the first week of school so he knew he wasn’t gonna learn anything important. On the off chance they did he could just ask Hunk or Pidge for help since they explain things better to him anyway.

The bell rang and everyone took a seat, with the exception of Lance still sitting on a desk. Once he saw the teacher glaring at him he quickly hopped down and sat correctly in his chair.

She stood tall in the typical garrison instructor uniform. “Welcome, Sophomores! I’m excited to have you all here and I know you all know each other from last year so I won’t make you all do an icebreaker but I do have a new student to introduce you to.”

The teacher stepped aside a bit to allow the student next to her to be more in the center. “Everyone, this is Lotor. His family just transferred from several light years from here and I hope you all make him feel welcome! From what I know he’s very smart and has traveled quite a bit.” She smiled. “His father and mother are heads of the intergalactic travel initiative and they’re doing work here in the Milky Way to bring better and faster transportation to this sector of the universe.” She said. “Hopefully in the next few decades we’ll have very efficient cars, planes, and maybe travel to other galaxies for vacation!” She smiled.

“Thank you, miss. My family is very proud of what we’ve been able to do in other galaxies and we hope to spread that knowledge here.” He smiled, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Keith wasn’t listening. He instead drew in his small pocket sketchbook as Lotor made his way down the row of desks and sat next to him.

Their teacher continued with the lesson which was just going over the syllabus. Lotor didn’t seem interested and instead looked over at Keith’s desk. “What are you drawing?” He whispered, quirking a brow.

Keith was almost startled at the sudden conversation. “I-uh… nothing.” He pulled his sketchbook out of view.

Lotor frowned a bit. “You’re an artist. We don’t just ‘draw nothing’. It looks like a rather small sketchbook but I’m curious.” He propped his elbow up on the desk and rested his head on his hand attentively.

Keith’s cheeks went a little red. “Ugh okay. Just promise you won’t judge.” He refused to make eye contact.

Lotor hesitantly nodded. “It’s not… bad… is it..? Like inappropriate…?”

Keith’s cheeks went full on cherry tomato red. “No! Of course not!” He said loudly.

“Keith I’m going to have to ask you to not be disruptive while I’m going over very important information!” Their teacher scolded. The class turned to face Keith.

He pouted and nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry.” As soon as the class turned back around Keith scowled at Lotor. “Thanks a lot.” He spat.

Lotor didn’t seem too happy either. “It’s not my fault you’re defensive when asked about drawing _that_.” He whispered and turned back to face the front.

Keith already didn’t like him. This preppy Galran, the most advanced race in the universe, thought he could just waltz in and start making small talk with _him_. Now that he put the feeling into words he felt bad for what he said. Keith knew he was just trying to make friends. He couldn’t tell if the sudden open conversation he tried to start was cultural or he was just like that. Either way he definitely wasn’t gonna show him his sketchbook now.

  


Class ended and it was time for him to go to the next which was universal hospitality. After the last few centuries of immigration from other parts of the galaxy and sometimes other galaxies, schools began implementing a universal hospitality class to help students better communicate with other students not from Earth. Earth didn’t get many visitors from other galaxies because advancing technology there has been so slow due to lack of resources only available in other galaxies. With more unification programs from other planets, Earth had been able to trade their own natural resources for alien resources.

Keith walked into his class and again sat down towards the back. He took out his sketchbook to finish the sketch he began last period. Without taking his eyes off the page he saw a familiar bag drop next to him.

“You never did show me what you were drawing.” Lotor was standing over him.

“Geez!” He quickly hid his sketchbook again. “You can’t just do that!” He looked up.

“Do what? Ask you what you’re drawing?” His tone was a bit rude.

“Look… My sketchbook is _private_ . That means only I can look unless you have my permission.” He furrowed his brows. “Earlier you said ‘ _we_ ’ as in you’re an artist too.”

Lotor nodded, taking the seat next to Keith again. “Yes. I’ve worked very hard to perfect my life-like renderings.” He bragged.

“Then you should understand how private a sketchbook can be, right?”

Lotor looked confused. “Why? Art is for everyone to see. Why would you hide it?”

Keith huffed. “Because it’s not great…?”

Lotor laughed. “Not great? That’s partly why you show people! To get input!”

“Yeah no. I’m not interested in people who don’t draw to tell me what to do.” His voice was monotone.

“What about me? I’ll show you a sketch of mine if you show me a sketch of yours. Deal?” Lotor took his rather large and expensive looking sketchbook out of his bag.

Keith bit his lip. “...You still have to promise not to judge.”

“Promise.” He flipped to the first page in his sketchbook and handed it to Keith as Keith did the same, but spent a few more seconds trying to find a good one.

Keith took the very heavy sketchbook and looked at the page Lotor opened to for him.

“Woah...” He was at a loss for words.

On the page there was the most life like sketch of what looked like an Altean woman. The eyes looked so warm and the hair looked so soft as if he could reach out and touch it. He didn’t use any color but with the detail and sophistication of the lighting he didn’t need any. The entire piece was drawn with what looked like 3 types of pencils, something Keith had researched about but could never afford. “This… This is beautiful.” He kept noticing new details on the portrait and felt so much joy from how Lotor drew her. After a good minute of just taking in all the beauty of the piece he looked up at Lotor.

Lotor’s facial expression read something of the opposite of what Keith was feeling. “Do… Do you have any formal training…?” He didn’t look impressed like Keith was with his work.

Keith’s smile dropped. “No…”

“You should look into that.” Lotor had closed the sketchbook and handed it back to him. “Don’t worry. You’ll get there.” He seemed both pleased and uninterested.

Keith frowned and took back his sketchbook and gave Lotor’s his back. “Yeah.. Thanks…” He mumbled. He put his sketchbook away and looked away from Lotor. He didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the school day.

  


Keith’s bag was swung over his shoulder as he trudged to the bus, still upset from earlier.

“Keith! Wait!” Lance’s voice called from behind him.

Keith turned around and watched as Lance ran as fast as he could to catch up.

“I didn’t see you at all today after 1st period! Where were you during lunch too?” He panted a bit as the bus opened the doors.

“Skipped. No one does attendance the first week of school and no one checks the garden behind the school during the day.” Keith said, flatly.

Lance looked almost sad. “Don’t do that thing where you shut me out. I hate when you do that.”

Keith sat down once inside the bus with Lance. “You’re right… I’m sorry.” He sighed and looked up at him. “It’s just that new guy. He made me feel so pathetic today.” His voice was so quiet that if Lance wasn’t sitting right next to him he wouldn’t have heard.

Lance’s expression changed from sad to angry. “What’d he say??” He went full big brother mode, even though Keith was almost a year older than him.

“He asked to see my sketchbook and said he’d show me his as a deal so I agreed. His art was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! The detail itself was… _amazing_. He didn’t seem to think so about my work.” He huffed. “He asked me if I had any formal training. When I said no he said I should look into it.” His face was already red and fists tight.

Lance didn’t seem too happy about that either. “That’s so rude… Cultural differences or not. I’ll straighten him out tomorrow. No one can just… _say that_. It’s not like people like me and you can just go hire someone to teach us stuff.”

Keith’s head was lowered. “No, no. I’m just not gonna talk to him anymore. We can’t get into anymore fights or we both might lose our scholarships. Especially since this guy is important apparently. You noticed the body guard in the back of the class too, right? She did _not_ seem like a student.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah I asked her what her name was and she wouldn’t talk to me. Lotor said she’s Acxa, his friend, which I totally doubt.” Lance looked over at Keith again. “Can I see your drawing? It’s been a little while so I’m sure you’re a Picasso by now.” He smiled.

Keith smiled a bit and took out his sketchbook. “I didn’t get to finish it though so it’s just a sketch.” He opened to the same page Lotor saw.

“Woah that looks awesome! I was right you’re getting so good!” Lance beamed. “Oh is this from that webcomic you like? The cool cyberpunk one?”

Keith smiled a bit and nodded. “Yeah, this is the main guy. I wanted to draw the other characters today but… yeah…” His voice trailed off.

“Well, I hope you get to because if I didn’t know any better I’d think this was a sketch from the original artist!” Lance knew Keith needed the encouragement after what Lotor had said.

“Haha thanks, Lance.” Keith leaned back in the seat and thought for a moment. “Lance… be honest… Do you think I should get formal training…? Like, take an actual art class at the garrison? I’ve never liked the idea of an art teacher telling me what to do but...”

Lance bit his lip. “I don’t wanna tell you what to do either. If you feel that’ll help you then I say go for it! Just make sure you do it for yourself and not Lotor or someone.”

Keith nodded. “I’ll look into it then… We have until this Friday to change a class if we want.”

They sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the way home. Lance may or may not have fallen asleep halfway through.

  


“Lance… wake up.” Keith gently shook him. “We’re almost back.”

Lance groaned. “Already…?” He lifted his head from Keith's shoulder and rubbed his eyes.

The bus stopped at the edge of the neighborhood like it did in the morning. The two got up and hopped off.

“Well, see ya later, Keith! I'll text you when I get home!” Lance waved.

“Same here!” Keith waved goodbye as they parted ways.

Keith walked home and across the overgrown yard. “Ugh, Dad really needs to get this trimmed…” He mumbled, inserting the key in the door.

He opened the door and dropped his stuff down in his room before plopping down on his bed. He reached for his phone to text Lance and then look at other available classes to join.

“Ceramics… Art History… Ooh Drawing!” He looked at the description. “Looks like a normal drawing class.” He thought for a moment. He wasn’t doing this because of Lotor, right? He was doing this because he wanted to get better! Of course he wouldn’t take an art class because the most talented person in that field that he’d ever met told him, quite rudely, he should, right?

He pushed those thoughts to the side and emailed his counselor about changing a class. His teacher sent an email back minutes later with his new schedule. He grinned seeing his new class. He felt excited for the first time about school. Sure he was worried about the other students being so far ahead of him, maybe Lotor, and the teacher maybe making him not like art anymore, but he didn’t want to focus on that. He loved art and he wanted to get better.

 

That’s all.

  


“Keith! I’m home!” The door closed behind. “You in your room?” Keith’s dad called.

“Yeah just drawing!” Keith called back.

“Oh my little artist is back at work!” He chuckled as he hung his coat on the coat rack. “What exquisite creation are you conjuring up today?” He said in a funny voice as he walked into Keith’s room and sat on his bed.

Keith looked up from his spot on his red bean bag chair and turned his sketchbook to him. “I was practicing drawing my shoe!” He grinned. “I looked up good things to practice drawing and shoes were one of them.”

The drawing wasn’t anything amazing but just by looking at a real object the quality of this piece was better than his normal work. It was a simple pencil sketch with cross-hatched shading and basic coloring for the different parts of the shoe.

“It looks great, son! You’re getting better and better!” He ruffled Keith’s already messy hair.

Keith swatted his hand away as he laughed. “Hey, dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you be upset if I dropped a class… and changed it to an art class…?” His voice was small and he seemed to sink into the bean bag.

He paused for a moment. “No. That’s fine if you did. I just hope it wasn’t your engineering class.”

Keith shook his head. “No, I know that one is important. I just dropped my cooking class. I don’t need to learn how to cook when I have these.” He smirked as he held up a box of poptarts and shook it a little to make the point.

Keith’s dad chuckled. “I think you just signed yourself up for monthly cooking lessons with your old man.”

“Ugh nooo… You always try to teach me the most complex things like last time you tried to teach me how to crack four eggs at a time.” He groaned.

“You’ve gotta be efficient as a firefighter! Those men and women need someone like me who can crack 20 eggs in under a minute.” He grinned. “You’re not the only one who needs breakfast.” He chuckled.

“Yeah yeah. I know.” Keith rolled his eyes playfully.

He knew his dad had an important job and he knew he was dang good at it. One time he and his team managed to save an entire family from a huge house fire and the family ended up buying each firefighter’s family an entire Christmas dinner, since he was called in on Christmas Eve. Keith and his dad ate well that year. He was used to having some of his dad’s friends over during their breaks from the fire station. He’d heard so many stories of his dad saving more lives than he could count. Stories of children who were left alone being saved, adults on their own being saved, pets of all types being saved, entire families being saved. His dad was his _hero_.

“Alright then. I’ll go start on dinner.” He stood with a grunt.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just been a long day.” He stretched a bit before leaving Keith’s room.

Keith watched him go and looked back down at his drawing. Maybe he could try drawing his dad one of these days.

Almost half an hour later Keith heard a plate shatter from the dining room. He quickly tossed his sketchbook and sprang up. “Dad??” He ran out to see if he was alright.

There stood his dad. Phone in one hand and a plate in the other. His eyes were glued to the screen.

“Dad…? What happened…?” Keith walked up slowly.

He snapped out of what looked like shock. “Oh, I’m sorry, kiddo. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He quickly shut off his phone and knelt down to pick up the shattered plate.

Keith had already gotten the broom. “Here I can do it.” He swept up the pieces before his dad could touch them.

“Thanks, Keith.” He smiled a little.

Keith nodded. “What made you drop it?” He asked, no hint of anger in his voice, just concern.

He set the plate down on the table next to the pot of spaghetti and rubbed his neck. “Oh, I guess I’m just tired.” He shrugged.

Keith knew he was lying, about the reason at least. He knew his dad was tired but he was sure that’s not why he dropped the plate.

“Anyway, dinner’s done! I made some pasta to celebrate your first day back to school.” He set down a new plate and served them both. “So how was your first day? You have any classes with your friends?”

Keith sat down after finishing up with the broken plate. “Yeah Pidge, Hunk, Lance, Allura, and I have our first class together.” He didn’t know if that was the only class because he skipped the rest of the day. “It was a boring day. Hopefully, with my new art class it’ll be more exciting.” he took a bite of spaghetti.

“Oh, that’s nice. Speaking of being exciting… Isn’t that family in charge of intergalactic transportation or something here now? I heard they’ve got a son that goes to your school. Met him?” He asked.

Keith huffed. “Yeah. He’s a rich jerk.”

His dad almost choked on his food from laughing. “Did he actually _do_ something or do you not like him because he talks all poised like the other rich kids?” They often bonded over roasting the upper class.

“Both. He… nevermind.” He looked down at his food.

His dad furrowed his brows. “Keith… What did he do…”

“He was just being a jerk like I said. He thinks he can just say _whatever whenever_. He… He said some rude stuff when he saw what I was drawing.” Keith was full on angry pouting at that point. “Just because he’s way better than me he thinks he can just insult me.” He crossed his arms.

“Keith… That’s not why you’re taking the art class, right?”

He huffed. “No… I just wanna get better.” Keith couldn’t tell if he was lying to himself or not.

“Okay then. Just remember to do things that make you happy and not because this guy said you should. Do you want me to talk to the teachers?”

Keith’s head perked up. “Oh no, no, no. I don’t wanna be _that_ family… I’ll deal with him. He’s just like the other dumb garrison kids.”

His dad looked skeptical. “I hope _deal_ doesn’t mean _fight_.” He raised a brow.

Keith shook his head. “The garrison said I’ve been in too many fights. Next one might kick me out.” He looked angry about that. “Which is dumb because fighting was a good way to show those spoiled brats-”

“ _Keith_ …”

Keith huffed. “I’ll just eat now…” He said, twirling his pasta with his fork.

“Good idea.” His dad did the same.

He’d been working with Keith for years on controlling his anger. It didn’t help that everything in life seemed to be against him. First having to explain that his mother was gone and he couldn’t truthfully tell him where she was, having lifelong financial issues, being treated as less of a person just because of the class difference, and so many other things that made life so unfair from Keith’s eyes.

They ate and talked about each other’s days more until they finished eating.

“I’m gonna step out of the house for a bit to make a call. Can you wash these plates while I’m out?” Keith’s dad set the dishes in the sink.

Keith nodded and began working. He already knew something was up. His dad always made calls in front of him no problem. It must have something to do with how he dropped the plate earlier. He washed the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher before quietly walking towards the front door. His curiosity was getting the best of him.

“-are you sure? It’s not like- No, I know… Just please tell me you’re for real this time.” There was a pause. “Geez… Okay. Tell me when the plane lands. I’ll be at the airport.” Another pause. “Oh, I’ll be at work on that day. She’ll have to wait until I’m back at home.”

Keith couldn’t connect any dots. _She_ ..? Who’s he talking about?? Keith was fine if his dad started dating again but he never seemed interested in anyone. He spent most of his time either at the fire station or with Keith. Nothing ever really in between. The weird thing that stuck out to him was that whoever this _she_ was he wasn’t talking to her. He was talking to someone else.

“If this is real… holy… If she’s actually…” Keith could hear him crying. “I don’t even know what to say.” He had never heard his dad cry. It scared him a bit but he seemed to be crying from joy so Keith was left with nothing but confusion and mixed emotions.

“Okay, okay. Just keep me posted. I need to know everything.” Pause. “Okay. Thank you, Kolivan.” He hung up.

Keith quickly and quietly ran to his room and jumped on his bed. He reached for his sketchbook to pretend he had started drawing again. He waited a few minutes, expecting his dad to come into his room and maybe explain what that phone call was all about but it never happened.

After about an hour Keith left his room and went to their small living room. It only had one couch and it sat only two people. His dad was seated there with a box in his hands. The top was set aside and what looked like pictures were sprawled over his lap.

“Dad…? What’s that…?” Keith stood there.

That seemed to startle him. “O-Oh, Keith. I didn’t see you there, kiddo.” He was already trying to hide the pictures. “Nothin’ these are just some old pictures.” He quickly put them back in the box. He sighed “...I’ll show these to you soon. Just… Just not today.” He stood up and put the box on a tall shelf. “I think I’m ready for bed… You ready to go to bed too?”

Keith shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” He brushed his teeth and all that before getting into bed. As much as Keith told him that he was in high school and too old to be tucked in his dad kept up the tradition to kiss him goodnight every single night he was home. Keith assumed it was because his dad still viewed him as a child in that sense but he couldn’t be more wrong. As a firefighter sometimes you don’t know if you’ll be coming home again.

“Good night, kiddo.” He smiled and kissed Keith’s forehead. “Get some sleep, alright?”

Keith nodded. “You too. ‘Night, dad.”

His dad turned off the lights and closed the door halfway as he left.

Keith tried to go to sleep but the events of the afternoon left him craving answers. Who was his dad meeting up with? What were those pictures? Why didn’t he want to show him? He didn’t want to pry because he knew his dad had a right to his privacy but needed answers! Keith decided to wait and see if in the next few days he’d maybe tell him _something_ about what he was talking about outside.

 

Until then he’d just suffer and theorize.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lotor is just trying to make friends lol

## Chapter 2

Keith woke up to the smell of what he knew was his dad’s famous breakfast burritos. He made them all the time for his team back at the fire station. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his clock on his nightstand.

_5:30_

Wow, he woke up a little early. He heard his dad talking in the kitchen and quickly got up to see who he was talking to.

“I don’t know… I’ll be at work for the majority of this week and next week. You’ve got to give me more information, Kolivan. No, you can’t leave me in the dark. I have to know- Please, can’t I-” He huffed as he clenched his jaw. “Just give me updates, alright?? You know how important this is for us.”

Keith furrowed his brows. _Us?_ What’s he talking about? He stepped a bit further out of his room to hear better over the food sizzling. As he walked forward along the wall he accidentally knocked down a picture frame on the wall.

The picture frame shattered on the floor as glass flew all around his feet. It was a miracle he didn’t get cut but not so much a miracle for his hiding situation. His dad whipped his head around at the loud shattering.

“Hey, I’ll have to call you back.” He hung up and rushed to Keith’s side with a broom. “You alright, buddy??” The glass clattered as he swept it up.

Keith nodded. “Dad… Who were you talking to…?” Keith’s voice was barely above a whisper.

His eyes widened a bit. “Ah, no one. Here, let’s get this out of the way.” Once the glass was in the dustpan his dad went to throw it away.

Keith pressed his lips together and looked down at the picture sticking out of the broken frame. It was bent in a weird way. Keith crouched down and picked up the photo. It was a picture of him as a baby and his dad. The picture looked like it was folded and covering somethi-

“Hey!- I’ll get that!” His dad quickly snatched the picture out of his hand and shoved it in his pocket. “Can’t risk you getting cut, Keith.” He sounded more panicked than convincing.

Keith looked at the picture sticking out of his dad’s pocket. Yep, it was definitely folded. “Are you alright? You’re kinda… jumpy…”

“Yeah, I’m alright. Just making sure you’re safe.” There was more to that second sentence than he was saying. Picking up the broken frame, he checked around Keith for more glass he missed. Once he was done, he let Keith walk out of the previous glass warzone and into the rest of the kitchen.

Keith sat down in his chair, resting sad face present. He picked up his burrito and took a bite.

His dad was turned toward the stove as he finished the last few. “Hey, Keith, Lance’s mom said she’d drop by tomorrow with dinner since I was called in early to work. Some buddies got caught in a nasty fire so the station could use some extra help. Will you be alright by yourself tomorrow? I can always ask Mrs. Garcia if you could hang out over there for the week since it’s the first week of school. You and Lance could do some homework and hang out for a bit.”

Keith looked up at him. “I’ll be fine here. Don’t worry about me, dad.” He gave him a calm thumbs up as he took another bite out of his burrito.”

“Alright then. I hate to leave you alone when you’re getting back into things at school but the job calls.” He sighed.

“It’s alright. You’ve got a job to do. Not everyone is brave and strong enough like you to save people every day.” He smiled. “You’re a hero, you know.”

His dad chuckled. “I appreciate that, kiddo. I’ve gotta get going soon.” He wrapped up the extra burritos to take to the station. “I’ll be back on Wednesday afternoon, alright? Mrs. Garcia is helping out with meals and she said to come over if you’d like today or tomorrow. Thank God for that family.” He smiled. “They’re such good people.”

Keith nodded. “Yeah, it’s nice having a mom figure like her. Lance is cool too.”

His dad’s smile faded. “Anyway, I’ll get going.” He came over and kissed Keith’s forehead like the day before. “Love you, pumpkin.” He grabbed a few things and locked the front door behind him.

Keith watched him leave as he finished his breakfast. He was left with _many_ questions… Who was he talking to? Why was the picture of them folded? What was it covering? Keith had no leads and no answers.

He stood up from the table and walked back to his room, plopping down on his bed. He huffed and ran his hands through his hair. Lately, his dad seemed like there was something big on his mind… but what? “When he comes home I’ll ask…” He thought out loud. “If it’s important he’ll tell me.” He said confidently. “Until then…” He flipped onto his stomach and reached for his sketchbook.

  
  


As the time came closer to time he had to be at school, Keith did his daily school day routine and managed to get to the bus on time and arrive at the garrison with Lance.

“You’re gonna meet with us for lunch right?” Lance hopped off the bus after Keith.

“Yeah, don’t worry.” Keith readjusted the strap of his bag.

They walked together into class and sat down where they had yesterday, unfortunately, Lotor did the same thing.

Keith didn’t make eye contact and instead moved back a seat and waited for class to start since the teacher was still in the hall.

Lotor noticed and moved back a seat as well.

Keith moved back another seat, brows furrowed.

Lotor moved again, following the angry teen.

“What’s your deal?? Can you leave me alone??” Keith stood and yelled, getting the attention of everyone in the class.

Lotor’s eyes widened a bit. “Why do you keep moving away from me? If anything you’re the one being rude!”

The class waited for Keith’s answer.

He huffed and looked at Lotor. “Because of what you said to me yesterday! You really think I’d sit next to someone who thinks it’s okay to be a jerk on the first day of knowing someone?”

The new student looked confused. “What are you talking about? I thought we were getting along?” His voice sounded sad.

Now Keith was _very_ mad. “Ugh, just don’t talk to me anymore.” He moved to the very back of the class and put his bag in the seat next to him so no one could sit there.

The class began talking amongst themselves. “Of course he’d treat the new kid like that…” People whispered.

Lotor looked down and frowned as he kept a small chunk of his hair in his hand to fiddle with. He seemed visibly confused and nervous.

Lance hopped over a desk to get to Keith’s row. “Dude… what was that?”

Keith huffed. “I don’t know! I just can’t believe he doesn’t even know how mean he is.” He whispered. “I’m not apologizing.”

“Yeah, I won’t ask you to… Though I will say to stay away from him. If you get on his bad side I’m sure his family will come for your scholarship…” He muttered, bitterly.

Keith nodded. “Yeah, I just hope we don’t have the same art class.”

  
  


They had the same art class.

 

Keith made it through his first two classes without any more issues but once he reached his third class it was all over.

“Ah, you must be Keith! Welcome to Drawing! I’m Mr. Smythe and I have arranged seating so please find your name on a table.” His new art teacher greeted him at the door. He looked Altean with his pointy ears and face marks.

He nodded and walked into the classroom. The walls were covered in painted canvases and messy tarp mats were scattered on the floor. There were tables with one chair on each side in the room. As he looked for his name, he heard a familiar voice at the doorway.

“Good morning, Mr. Smythe! It’s lovely to see you again!” Lotor smiled.

“Oh, it’s lovely to see you too! Your father called yesterday and asked about your first day in my class and I had only good things to tell him. It was good talking to him again.” He smiled.

“Thank you, I’m sure father would love to get together again soon with everyone.” Lotor smiled and walked into the room with Keith as more students strolled in.

_“Ugh please no… Any table but with him.” Keith thought._

 

And again the universe had other plans.

 

Keith finally found his name but Lotor beat him to the table.

Lotor seemed nervous again. “Sorry.” He sat and kept his head down.

Keith couldn’t be angry anymore. “Dude, you don’t have to apologize for being seated next to me.”

He pressed his lips together. “I know you don’t like me very much so I’m sorry you have another class with me… and at the same table nonetheless.”

Keith felt so bad for the guy. “It’s not like you were nice to me yesterday…” But he still didn’t want to be friends.

“What did I say?” Lotor looked back up at him with the biggest puppy eyes.

“You said my art was bad.” He said bluntly.

“Well yeah. I told you you were getting feedback.” He cocked a brow.

“You didn’t have to phrase it the way you did!”

“How else should I have phrased it?”

“I dunno maybe something like ‘I like your art maybe you could improve it by doing this or this’, you know? In a _nice_ way?” Keith sat down, not breaking eye contact.

Lotor opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, seemingly thinking. “I’m sorry. Where I’m from that’s how I would have phrased it.”

Keith huffed. There was no winning. “Apology accepted, I guess. Just think before you speak next time.”

Lotor nodded. “Will do. Are we good again?”

Keith shrugged. “We’ll work up to it.”

 

“Welcome to Drawing day two!” Mr. Smythe beamed at the class. “Today we’re-” A student peaked her head into the room.

“Hello, sorry to interrupt, but father wanted me to give this to you today, Coran.” It was Allura and she dropped some tech on his desk. She waved to Keith and quickly left after Mr. Smythe, or Coran, thanked her.

“Where was I… Oh right! Today we’re starting off with an update on the Art Club.” He said, eagerly. “I’m sponsoring the club again this year and our first meeting is after school today. Sorry to make it so last minute but the school decided to have us meet every Tuesday and today counts. We’re also holding an election for the roles of, club president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. I’ll discuss more at the meeting but I hope to see you all there! We will cover many more mediums and it’ll be a nice place to meet other students who share similar interests.” He smiled. “Flyers are on my desk with information on dates and times.” Mr. Smythe walked up to the front of the classroom and began his lesson, starting with the four types of pencils they were going to use in class.

As he spoke, Lotor kept glancing at Keith. Keith did, in fact, notice and grew annoyed.

“I hope you’ve all purchased your supplies for the class yesterday! Today we’re starting with shading.” Mr. Smythe said, taking his own out to show the class as the students did the same.

Keith panicked. He must’ve explained everything on the syllabus yesterday! He didn’t have anything!

Lotor noticed Keith’s internal freak out and pulled out a small bag of pencils. He slid them over to him as their teacher was turned around.

Keith froze and looked up at him. “Are you sure?” He whispered.

Lotor nodded and turned around again. “Mr. Smythe, I seem to have forgotten my pencils. Do you have a set I can borrow until I have them tomorrow?” He said hand raised.

“Oh of course, here.” Their teacher walked over and handed him another bag. “Just remember to have them tomorrow.” His voice was forgiving.

Keith looked at Lotor. “Why did you do that?”

“He knows me so he’ll forgive me.” He whispered.

“Thanks.” He smiled a bit.

Lotor nodded and smiled a bit too, a little more than Keith.

 

“Now take out a page in your sketchbooks so we can practice shading with each pencil.” Mr. Smythe took out his own sketchbook and tore a page out. “You won’t be turning these in but I would like you to practice.”

Keith looked up again at Lotor. He was already tearing out an extra page to give to Keith.

“Thanks… again.” He whispered, sheepishly.

Lotor seemed in a much better mood and smiled.

 

Class went on as normal and the two made small talk during the breaks to practice shading with each pencil.

“So what brings you to the garrison?” Keith asked, shading a box he drew.

Lotor was doing the same. “Father thought I’d do schooling here since it’s a pretty advanced academy while he works in the area for the next few years. What about you?”

“My dad is a self-taught engineer and since he works a lot we worked really hard to get me here on one of their scholarships so I’d get a really good engineering education.”

“He sounds like a very hard worker.” He smiled. “Maybe during a school event, we can introduce our fathers. My father is looking for engineers and I’m sure we can get your father a more relaxed working schedule.”

Keith smiled. “I’ll talk to him about it.” He looked up at Lotor. “I am sorry about earlier… I didn’t mean to yell at you like that.”

Lotor looked up too. “It’s alright, Keith. We’re good now, right?”

Keith chuckled. “Yeah, we’re good.”

 

Class finished and the two walked out of the class together, each grabbing a flyer for the art club. “I have to go to the bathroom but I’ll meet you at the cafeteria.” Keith began walking toward the bathroom on this floor.

Lotor nodded and walked towards the cafeteria.

 

Keith finished his business and washed his hands. As he put his backpack back on and walked out of the restroom, someone stopped him at the door.

“Keith, this is a warning from me on behalf of Lotor… Do _not_ hurt him. If you even think of betraying or abusing your friendship with him I will have your scholarship revoked.” This was Axca, Lotor’s bodyguard, based on rumors. She stood high over him blocking him from leaving.

“Woah, who said I was gonna hurt him?? He’s like an entire foot taller than me?? Also, he was the one who started the fight. We’re good now though so I’m not sure what this warning is for.” Keith glared.

“I’ve been with Lotor since we were both small and I’ve seen what others will try. Don’t think you’re special just because of what happened in there.” She pointed to the art classroom. “My job is to protect Lotor and you will not stand in my way, understand?”

Keith was still very confused. “Yeah, yeah okay.” He put his hands up. “Geez, I’m just trying to get to lunch…” He moved past her and walked quickly to the cafeteria.

  


Lotor was already sat with Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura. “Hey, Keith! Good to finally see you where you’re supposed to be.” Pidge laughed.

“Yeah sorry for skipping yesterday. I’m gonna go to my lunch and come back.” Keith began walking towards one of the lines before Lance got up and joined him in line.

“Hey, so Lotor told us what happened.” Lance began, “You guys cool now?”

Keith nodded, grabbing a tray. “Yeah. Turns out it was just a misunderstanding. You guys like him?”

Lance shrugged, grabbing a tray as well. “At first I didn’t want to because of yesterday but now I guess so.”

“I didn’t have my pencils today, and I don’t think I could’ve afforded them anyway, and Lotor gave me his during art class.”

Lance looked up at him. “Well, that was nice. I think he’s just trying to make friends, dude. Good thing you guys are friends now. Imagine if his dad found out you guys were, like, enemies or something.” He chuckled. “He would’ve made your life _miserable_.”

“Yeah… Acxa doesn’t seem too nice though. She told me if I hurt Lotor she’d get my scholarship revoked.”

“Oh wow… Yeah uhh… I guess do what she says…”

The two went through the line getting their food.

“Every year they manage to make the food worse.” Keith groaned.

“You should’ve seen the food yesterday… It was like astronaut food met 21st-century cafeteria food. Not good.” Lance shuddered.

“Look at all of these rich kids… eating food they brought from home…” Keith glared.

“Hey some of those rich kids are our _friends_ , Keith, and you know damn well Hunk brought us all pudding cups.”

Keith smiled a bit. “Now that’s the only thing I’m looking forward to today.” He chuckled.

Lance chuckled too as they both slid their ID cards in the machine at the end of the line.

They walked back over to the table and sat down with the others.

“So we were talking about the art club Mr. Smythe is sponsoring,” Pidge started, “and that sounds like a chill place to hang out after school.”

“I even looked into if there are buses when the club session ends and there’s a bus still available to take you guys home.” Hunk said, looking at Lance and Keith. “I’ll even bring snacks  so there’s no excuse _not_ to join.” He chuckled.

Keith looked at them and nodded. “Sounds cool. I didn’t even know you guys were into art.” He looked at his friends.

“Well we all need a common club to be in so we can hang out and we figured you wouldn’t join any other club.” Allura shrugged.

“Well I think it’ll be a nice common place to grow as artists together, don’t you think?” Lotor looked up at Keith.

He nodded. “Yeah sounds good. I’ll just text my dad and tell him I’ll be staying after school then.” He took a bite out of his sandwich and texted his dad.

 

12:03pm **Keith** : There’s an art club meeting after school today so I’m gonna stay. My friends checked and there’s a bus to take me and Lance back home afterward. That’s fine, right?

 

12:04pm **Dad** : Yes have fun, pumpkin!! Love you!

 

12:04pm **Keith** : Love you too.

“Dad said it’s fine.” Keith continued to eat his lunch.

“My mom said it’s fine too,” Lance said.

“Awesome! We’re gonna go to art club!” Pidge pumped her fist in the air. “Also I heard one of the student teachers is gonna be there too. What’s his name… Mr. Shirogane? He said we can call him Shiro though. He’s working with my dad in a branch here at the garrison as a pilot so I can tell you he’s pretty chill.”

They nodded.

“Man, I really hope this year is a good year for us. We need this before junior year. I heard it’s brutal.” Hunk handed out some pudding cups to everyone as he spoke.

“Me too… I heard from the juniors their teachers are pretty strict. I’m not looking forward to that…” Allura opened her pudding cup and began eating.

“Oh come on, all of the teachers love you! You’ll be fine. It’s Lance we have to worry about.” Keith teased.

“Hey! I’ll have you know I haven’t had a teacher yell at me _once_ today. I think that earns me a round of applause.” he chuckled.

“Pft yeah, you finally obeyed a teacher the first time they ask you to. Good job for doing the bare minimum.” Pidge scoffed.

Lotor sat and listened to the teasing. He seemed to really enjoy being there despite not talking much.

“So, Lotor, how are you liking Earth? I know it’s not as advanced as where you’re from, trust me Altea was way more advanced, but it’s kind of cozy, right?” Allura looked up at him.

Lotor nodded as the table rolled their eyes. They had to deal with Allura complaining about Earth tech for years back in elementary school. “I like the customs here a lot. Everyone is very kind and welcoming. Though I didn’t know how far these customs went and I apologize again, Keith.” He turned to him. “Though if we were back on Daibazaal you’d be considered somewhat weak and a pushover-” Lotor stopped himself. “Sorry... I was told this was how humans behave but I must’ve underestimated how I should talk. I do try to be respectful but I guess I came off too harsh.”

“I get it. It’s fine.” He took a bite of his food and made a face. “Ugh, this is gross.”

Lotor took a small box out of his lunch bag. “Here. I hope this is much better than that they’re serving. He handed a box to Lance as well seeing as he was eating that garbage they call lunch too.

“Woah thanks!” Lance immediately stopped eating the cafeteria lunch and opened the box he was handed. It was an elegantly served salad with meats, fruits, and vegetables he’d never seen before.

Keith opened his too. “Thanks, what is it?” He poked it with his fork. It looked just as good as it smelled.

“Just a salad my governess made.” Lotor began eating his own food again.

“Wait, isn’t that just a fancy word for ‘nanny’? It totally is!!” Lance laughed. “You have a nanny!”

Lotor’s cheeked darkened as if blushing. “Yes, I suppose… She’s the one that has cared for me while my parents work.”

The table got a little quiet. “Are they not home often?” Allura asked.

Lotor shook his head. “No, it’s actually quite odd to see them when I come home now being on Earth. Normally they’re on another planet.”

Keith felt so much guilt for the way he treated him earlier. “Well, it’s cool that you’re here while they’re here too.” Keith tried to make it more pleasant.

Lotor smiled. “Thanks. I think I’ll like it here.”

 

They all finished up their food and headed to their classes. The rest of the day was standard and Keith found he always had at least one friend in a class which was nice.

  


Keith walked into the art class with Hunk where the club meeting was being held right after school. He had the flyer in his hand and looked around the room.

“Is the teacher just late?” Keith thought out loud.

“Or maybe we’re just too early?” Hunk chuckled. “We _did_ get here before everyone else.”

Keith shrugged and sat in the spot he was assigned even though it probably wasn’t necessary.

Lotor and the others came in soon after. “I see you’re sticking to the seating chart.” Lotor teased, sitting in his spot from earlier too.

“I don’t think we’ll have enough room with all of us sitting at one table… unless…” Allura thought for a moment before nudging Lance to help her push two tables together. “There. Now we can all sit together!” She grinned.

“What’s all that noise?” Mr. Smythe walked into the room with Shiro at his side. “Oh hello everyone! I’m assuming you’re all here for the art club?” He twirled his mustache with a smile. “Good to see so many new faces!” He first greeted Allura since she was closest and most familiar, then Lotor, then the others. “This is my friend Mr. Shirogane but he told me it’s fine if you call him Shiro. I think a few of you have him in one of your classes as a teacher’s assistant.”

Shiro waved and set his bag beside Coran’s desk. “Hey, guys. As Coran said, I’m Shiro and I’m here to chill mostly.” He chuckled. “Also I enjoyed art club when I was a student here so might as well help out as a co-sponsor.”

Keith looked up at him. He had to be as tall as his dad, which was _very_ tall. “How many years ago was that?”

Shiro shrugged. “Must’ve been six or seven years ago. You’re all sophomores, right? I think you’re all in the class I assist.”

They nodded.

“Yeah don’t be fooled by Pidge’s size. She’s not a first grader.” Hunk laughed. Pidge laughed a little as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Coran laughed a bit too. “Alright, take your seats. I see you’ve figured out a seating arrangement.” He gestured to the two tables pushed together.

They each took their seats, Lotor and Keith, Lance and Allura, and Pidge and Hunk, taking sides of the tables.

“So does anyone here have experience in art before?” Coran sat next to Shiro at the empty end of the tables.

Lotor raised his hand. “Back on Daibazaal my father had me trained in many subjects and I enjoyed my art classes the most so that’s one of the paths I pursued.”

“Lovely! Do you have your sketchbook? I’m sure we’d all love to see your work.” Coran smiled.

Lotor nodded and pulled it out of his bag. “They’re organized by date.” He laid it flat on the tables and turned it to them.

“Wow, these sketches are very good! I had no idea you were this talented!” Coran looked through the pages.

Keith looked at the drawings and slumped in his chair. He knew it wasn’t Lotor’s fault he was way better than him but it still felt bad.

Lotor glanced at Keith and raised his brows. “Um, Mr. Smythe, Keith is also an artist!” He quickly took his sketchbook back and nudged Keith.

“Oh, I’d love to see your sketchbook too!” Coran smiled.

Keith hesitantly looked at Lotor and then at his bag to get out his small sketchbook. “It’s kind of small…” He mumbled.

“That’s perfectly fine. No one said you had to have a big expensive sketchbook. Whatever works for you is fine.” Coran took the small book into his hands and flipped through the pages. “Keith, I love the fluidity in the movement in your characters! You’re very good with emotions too!” Coran was an art teacher. He knew Keith knew his drawings weren’t amazing but telling him he sucked wasn’t gonna help him. If he was going to help Keith then Keith needed to believe in himself first.

Keith’s eyes perked up. “Really? You think so?” He fiddled with his thumbs.

Coran nodded. “Yes, of course!” He handed the book back to Keith. “It’s a pleasure to have you both here. Maybe you can help the rest of the group with finding a medium they like?”

The two looked at each other and smiled a bit. “Yes, I think that’s a great idea!” Lotor beamed. “What do you think, Keith?”

Keith smiled and nodded. “Sounds good.”

 

For the first time in a while, things seemed alright. He wasn’t concerned about anything else besides his friends and art.

 

“Well, the first order of business… We must hold an election! As I said before in class we need a club president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer.” He stood to write on the board the four roles. “Anyone interested in being club president? I feel like you’d be good in that role, Lotor.”

He nodded. “I do like leadership roles.” He turned to Keith. “You should be vice president! We can lead side by side!”

Keith shrugged. “As long as I don’t have to do a bunch of boring stuff.”

Lotor laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that.”

“I’m assuming we have Keith running as vice president?” Coran wrote their names on the board after getting nods of approval. “Now secretary? That job just requires general notes about what we do at each meeting.”

Hunk raised his hand. “I think I can do that! I’m already the designated hang out planner.” He chuckled.

“Perfect, now lastly, treasurer?”

Lance and Allura looked at each other for a moment before both of their hands shot up. “I call it!” They both shouted in unison.

“Well this is exciting, isn’t it? We already know who will have the other roles but you all will have to choose this last one in a vote. You each much give a small speech about why you would be the best fit for the role.”

Lance stood up first. “Well, I think _I’d_ be the best fit because remember that time Allura lost that twenty dollar bill and I ended up finding it? Yeah, imagine if she lost _all_ of our money!” Lance smirked.

The others rolled their eyes. As Lance sat down and Allura stood up. “Hello, everyone, I’d like to be this club’s treasurer because Lance is a liar and we all know Hunk found the twenty and let our little Lance take the credit because earlier he dropped his sandwich on the floor and Hunk felt bad for him. Also, I’m very good at keeping a record of transactions and I’m very responsible.”

“I vote Allura,” Pidge said.

“Same.” Hunk chuckled. “Sorry, Lance. Allura’s probably better qualified for this.”

The others nodded as Lance pouted. “You’re all brutal!” He crossed his arms over his chest as he slumped in his chair.

Coran chuckled as he wrote Allura’s name on the board. “I guess it’s settled then! Shiro, could you hand me my clipboard?”

Shiro reached over from his chair and tossed it to him. “We should get shirts made too.” He commented.

“Yes, I think we should too. In all the years I’ve done this I don’t think we’ve had a design that really stuck… Keith, since you seem to have a good style for it, would you like to design the art club shirts this year?”

He instantly grinned. “Yeah! What should it be?”

Lotor thought for a moment. “I’m not sure… Maybe we can make some sort of parody on something… I’ve always enjoyed that bit of Earth culture.”

“Ooh, maybe this?” Keith scribbled on the back of the flyer in front of him and showed Lotor first. “I like space and art so why not put them together?” Keith grinned and showed the rest of the table.

  


“Heck yeah, I approve of this aesthetic.” Pidge gave him a thumbs up.

“All in favor of this design raise your hand.” Coran watched as all six of them, plus Shiro raised their hands.

“I know I’m not a student but now I really want one.” Shiro chuckled.

“Don’t worry, sponsors do get a shirt.” Coran playfully nudged him. “We covered a lot today! Well done art club! I think that’s a good place to stop for today since it’s only the first meeting. Next Tuesday I want the design done so we can order the shirts. We’ll talk about projects, events, and all that at our next meeting.” Coran stood.

“See you tomorrow!” Allura stood, following Hunk and Pidge out.

“Come on, Keith! We have to catch the bu-”

 

_BUZZ_

_BUZZ_

_BUZZ_

 

Keith’s phone interrupted Lance with its loud ringer. “Sorry it’s my dad, hold on…” Keith broke away from the group off to the side of the classroom.

“Dad? What is it?”

“Keith, this is very important that you do exactly as I say.”

 

That was not his dad.

 

“I need you to go outside to the front of the school where your bus normally is and there will be a black vehicle waiting for you. I’ll explain everything and I’m so sorry to tell you like this but you have to trust me. I know that’s impossible since the last time you saw me was fifteen years ago but it’s very important that you do as I say.”

 

Keith didn’t know what to say. “W-Who is this?? Where’s my dad??” His voice was quiet and shaky.

  


“It’s mom. I’m so sorry, Keith.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked this please leave a Kudos! Idk if that actually does anything but I love seeing it bc then I know I'm doing a good job haha <3 Okay love you byeeeeeee


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